Lifelong partners: Gut microbiota-immune cell interactions from infancy to old age.

Our immune system and gut microbiota are intricately coupled from birth, both going through maturation during early life and senescence during aging almost in a synchronized fashion. The symbiotic relationship between the human host and microbiota is critically dependent on a healthy immune system to keep our microbiota in check; while the microbiota provides essential functions to promote the development and fitness of our immune system. The partnership between our immune system and microbiota is particularly important during early life, in which microbial ligands and metabolites shape the development of the immune cells and immune tolerance; during aging, having sufficient beneficial gut bacteria is critical for the maintenance of intact mucosal barriers, immune metabolic fitness, and strong immunity against pathogens.

Viral Transcript and Tumor Immune Microenvironment-Based Transcriptomic Profiling of HPV-Associated Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma Identifies Subtypes Associated with Prognosis.

Human papillomavirus (HPV)-associated head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HPV-positive HNSCC) has distinct biological characteristics from HPV-negative HNSCC. Using an AI-based analytical platform on meta cohorts, we profiled expression patterns of viral transcripts and HPV viral genome integration, and classified the tumor microenvironment (TME). Unsupervised clustering analysis revealed five distinct and novel TME subtypes across patients (immune-enriched, highly immune and B-cell enriched, fibrotic, immune-desert, and immune-enriched luminal).

Caffeic Acid Phenethyl Ester Protects Neurons Against Oxidative Stress and Neurodegeneration During Traumatic Brain Injury.

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is an inflammatory disease causing neurodegeneration. One of the consequences of inflammation is an elevated blood level of fibrinogen (Fg). Earlier we found that extravasated Fg induced an increased expression of neuronal nuclear factor kappa B (NF-κB) p65.

ACQUIRED MUTATIONS IN PATIENTS WITH RELAPSED/REFRACTORY CLL WHO PROGRESSED IN THE ALPINE STUDY.

Some CLL patients who develop progressive disease (PD) during treatment with covalent Bruton tyrosine kinase inhibitors (cBTKi) acquire pathway resistance mutations in BTK or PLCG2. Here, we report gene mutation data from paired baseline and PD peripheral blood samples from 52 patients (zanubrutinib, n=24; ibrutinib, n=28) who, at an early median follow-up time of 25.7 months, progressed on zanubrutinib or ibrutinib treatment in the ALPINE trial (NCT03734016).

Telephone follow-up on Medicare patient surveys remains critical.

Objectives: Patient experience surveys are essential to measuring patient-centered care, a key component of health care quality. Low response rates in underserved groups may limit their representation in overall measure performance and hamper efforts to assess health equity. Telephone follow-up improves response rates in many health care settings, yet little recent work has examined this for surveys of Medicare enrollees, including those with Medicare Advantage.